A system and method for classifying a channel with regard to delay spread in a wireless network applying orthogonal frequency division multiplexing. In one embodiment, a wireless receiver includes a channel classifier. The channel classifier is configured to compute a channel estimate corresponding to a channel traversed by a packet received by the wireless receiver. The channel classifier is also configured to partition the channel estimate into a plurality of windows. Each window corresponds to a range of time of the channel estimate. The channel classifier is further configured to assign a delay spread classification to the channel based on a distribution of energy across the windows.